Christian Kline walked into his first Weasels game--No. 3 way back in January 2006--like a gunslinger. Later that year, in August, the player known as The Scorpion soloed at the first Weasel Pyle to claim the very first Weasel of the Year title. (In its first installment, the Pyle was known as Weasel Moot; we wouldn't attach that name to our premier tournament until the following summer.)

In 12 seasons since then, Kline hasn't stopped shooting. But while he has finished on the podium in our tournaments, topped more than 23 percent of his league games, and won Best Country awards, a second major title eluded him. In fact, the drought dragged on for so long that some wondered whether The Scorpion was trying to fashion his Dip career into a more natural habitat.

And then Tuesday's Bar Room Brawl Championship Game at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square happened.

The drought is now over. Let it rain.

The championship ended by draw vote during the Spring 1907 turn in the following center counts:

For the second straight year, the game was decided by the selection order tie-breaker. Langenfeld, the top seed, picked third. Kline, the second seed, picked fourth, and therefore was declared the Brawl Star. His name will be inscribed on Cockerill's Orb, joining back-to-back two-time winners Chris Kelly and Jake Trotta, and inaugural winner Jim O'Kelley.

Interestingly, Kline is the third straight 2 seed to win the Brawl.

The supply center chart is here. Hopefully the players will share their thoughts in the comments section below.

Brandon Fogel entered Season 13's final day of play with a tenuous hold on an unprecedented third straight Weasel of the Year title. His three closest pursuers also were playing at the Weasel Pyle, and any one of them could unseat him with a strong result. A poor showing by Fogel, thus hurting his sparkling leftover average, would make their jobs even easier. So the stakes were high.

But one does not win a Weasel of the Year title, let alone two in a row and a Royale championship to boot, by blanching in the face of high stakes.

Eighteen players showed up at American Legion Evanston Post 42 for our 13th annual Weasel Pyle, the club's oldest, and happiest, tradition. Four over is the worst possible place to be when seeding boards. Three is too many to have playing on two boards; four is too many to ask to sit out. We chose the latter as the lesser of two evils, and gracious host Pete McNamara joined more willing volunteers Jim O'Kelley, Ben DiPaola and Brian Shelden for a couple of games of Splendor while waiting for enough second-chancers to field a third board.

So, Pyle 13 started with two boards at around 11:20 a.m., with the Diplomacy Tournament Manager assigning the players. Fogel drew Austria. His two closest rivals, Jake Langenfeld and Christian Kline, drew Italy and Russia.

"That was random?" Fogel asked under his breath. Then he went to work.

Here's how the games went down.

Game No. 373: O'Kelly Lays Up

Of the four WotY hopefuls, Kevin O'Kelly came in with the best shot. He had only played three previous games this season, and his low score was a paltry 1.538. He only trailed Fogel by about 23 points at the start of play, so he was looking for any kind of decent result. Add to that the other tree contenders were on the other board, and he was sitting pretty.

By the end of 1904, O'Kelly and two others were tied at 7 for the board-top. He proposed a draw, deciding to bank the points and stake his claim to the title. Surprisingly, or maybe not--Diplomacy players tend to be a pessimistic lot--the draw passed. The final center counts were:

The bid left O'Kelly just about a point short of Fogel. Now, he needed Fogel to tank on Board 374 so Fogel's leftover average would drop. The reigning Bull Weasel, however, chose not to cooperate.

Game No. 374: It's a Bull Weasel's Market

Despite drawing the game's most vulnerable country positioned between two guys who needed him to die, Fogel did what he's been doing since Season 11. He dominated. And he posted the only result that would ensure that no one could take his title.

Game No. 374 ended after the Fall 1908 turn in an Austrian solo. The final center counts were:

Fogel's solo was the club's 10th in league play and the first since the late Nate Cockerill's mythical bar game solo in September 2013, nearly five years ago. Nate went on to win the North American Diplomacy Championship at Tempest in a Teapot a couple of weeks later, soloing in that affair as well. Will history repeat itself?

The solo ended our longest solo drought, a streak of 151 games.

Game No. 375: The Streak Continues

Speaking of streaks, club founder Jim O'Kelley's streak of appearing in every Weasel Royale club championship game (10 total) was in serious jeopardy. After nine games, he was mired on the second board with a high single-game score of just 27.350. And now, he was relegated to the sidelines (where he would lost two games of Splendor), hoping the get a spot on a third board.

By 2:30 p.m., Game No. 373 had ended, and there were plenty of players seeking a second chance. So, a third board, began, and on it, O'Kelley finally got his big result...and secured a spot in his 11th straight Royale.

Game No. 375 ended by draw vote during the Fall 1905 turn, after a failed draw vote in the Spring, in the following center counts:

Note that Ben DiPaola did not get in this game. The former Sneak member showed up to play if needed but preferring to play other games and even do other work. We can't state strongly enough how helpful it is to have guys like DiPaola show up to either sit or play as needed. Making multiples of seven is hard work. But it's work we've been doing pretty well for 13 years, thanks to guys like Ben.

Game No. 376: Weasels Never Say Die

Weasels, like Goonies, never say die. At around 3 p.m., Matt Sundstrom, the club's most decorated player, showed up to take his shot at a 10th Royale appearance. With Fogel driving toward his solo and Langenfeld stuck trying to stop it, Kline jumped on this board in search of a huge result. It was rounded out by other refugees from Fogel's game plus a couple of guys who sitting around, rehashing Game No. 373, which had ended so early.

At this point, DiPaola and O'Kelly were the only Weasels not engaged.

Kline probably needed a solo of his own to possibly catch Fogel, and even that might not have been enough. Never one to throw in the cards (at least when he's playing Dip), he gave it the old college try. But the game ended by time limit after the Fall 1905 turn. The final center counts were:

For Driscoll, who paid his dues and played his only two games of the year all on the same day, the result was enough to wrest Best Italy from Bryan Pravel.

And thus ended Season 13. We played just 23 games, our lowest total since Season 3, with 46 players participating, our lowest since Season 2. But, it was a good year, with lots of entertaining games.

Fogel, of course secured his third straight Weasel of the Year title. The Amanda Baumgartner Rookie of the Year award went to Ravi Betzig. An online player, Betzig is a student at Brown University who was in town for an internship. He may be back next year. Regardless, he leaves Chicago hooked on face-to-face Diplomacy. He wants to find players at Brown and hopes to attend WDC over Columbus Day weekend in D.C.

The Best Country awards, which featured images of WWI troops (see Fogel's award in the photo above) went to:

Austria: Brandon Fogel, solo in Game No. 374.

England: Kevin O'Kelly, 17-center board-top in Game No. 364.

France: Christian Kline, 11-center board-top in Game No. 354, which was Opening Night.

Germany: Matt Sundstrom, 9-center shared board-top in Game No. 371.

Italy: Eamon Driscoll, 9-center shared board-top in Game No. 376.

Russia: Jake Trotta, 10-center board-top in Game No. 370.

Turkey: Jake Langenfeld, 12-center board-top in Game No. 355.

Note that Fogel would have won three of these if not for our rule limiting players to one Best Country award in league play. That rule required us to drill down pretty deep on one of the awards.

Fogel was also the season's Top Weasel, posting four board-tops in just nine games. Adib and Mick Johnson were recognized as our best recruiters, each having introduced the club to three people. In all, we had 15 new Weasels on the year, so our slash line for Season 13 is 23/46/15. That's 23 games, 46 players, 15 new Weasels.

Not bad, but we know we can do better.

The Bar Room Brawl Championship Game is set for August 21 at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square. Come on out and watch! The competitors will be:

Jake Langenfeld

Christian Kline

Brandon Fogel

Kevin O'Kelly

Jim O'Kelley

Bryan Pravel

Chris Kelly

Note that fifth seed Jake Trotta, the two-time defending champion, declined to participate. First alternate Kelly has been tapped to play, and O'Kelley and Pravel each move up a seed.

The Weasel Royale club championship game has yet to be scheduled. The seven qualifiers are:

Brandon Fogel

Kevin O'Kelly

Christian Kline

Jake Langenfeld

Jim O'Kelley

Chris Kelly

Jake Trotta

The first three alternates, in order, are Bryan Pravel, Matt Sundstrom and Ali Adib.

Brandon Fogel and Brian Shelden were reelected to join Ali Adib, Bryan Pravel and Jim O'Kelley on the 11th Sneak. Also elected were Old Guardsmen Christian Kline and Kevin O'Kelly. The latter ran a write-in campaign. The 11th Sneak will meet soon to form its government.

Opening Night for Season 14 will be September 12 at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square. Hope to see you there! But first, there's Weasel Moot XII, our premier tournament, which this year will be at 400 East Randolph on September 1-2. Make your plans to join us!

Like so many other games in our thrilling 13th season, No. 372 went down to the wire last night at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square.

We drew nine folks for the final tilt in the 2018 Bar Room Brawl Series, including observer Ben DiPaola--the reluctant Diplomat, former Sneak member, and father of the Red Wednesday tradition--and safeties Chris Kelly and Brian Shelden. The presence of the safeties was fortunate, as we had to tap Kelly (France) to make seven. Shelden promptly skulked home for some much-needed sleep, but DiPaola stuck around to watch the game, advise newcomer Joyce Merkel (Germany) as needed, and sneak in some professional development reading. DiPaola slipped out at around 9:30 to buy some cigars for the post-game discussion...so he wasn't present when we needed him to conduct a dramatic draw vote on the penultimate turn.

With all seven players in the game and our impartial observer in search of tobacco, we turned to Founding Weasel Dan Burgess' custom draw cards to resolve the vote. Mike Morrison (Austria) shuffled the votes and then revealed them one at a time, planning to stop on the first green "Continue Playing" card to shroud the vote count in at least a bit of mystery. Alas, the first green card was the last one revealed, so as we played the final year, with Jim O'Kelley (England) and Kelly tied at eight and Christian Kline (Turkey) at seven, we knew someone thought he or she could improve his or her score but could only guess as to whom. (After the game, Christian Kline copped to the green card.)

As 1905 wended to conclusion, it looked like all three contenders would improve their scores. In fact, the odds kept shifting among all three, various combinations of two, and different sprinters alone finishing with nine centers. But Merkel--who had declined the novice privilege of selecting from France and Turkey, and channeled namesake Angela throughout the evening--and the three minor powers had other ideas. The game ended by time limit after the Fall 1905 turn in the following center counts:

The supply center chart is here. The updated league standings, with only the Pyle remaining, are here. And the final Brawl standings are here.

A couple of final notes.

First, we played on the first Wednesday of the month rather than the second because the Red Lion will be closed next week. Trusty barkeeps Joe and Sue deserve a break, too.

Second, in the category of pop culture references, "When you come at the Scorpion, you best not miss." Morrison, Langenfeld and Betzig opened against Kline. They finished the game with a combined four centers, half as many as their target owned.

It was a great year for the Brawl. Betzig and Merkel were two of the 11 players who participated in the Brawl for the first time. Betzig will play at the Pyle next week (Aug. 12 at the American Legion hall in Evanston) but will then head back to Providence, R.I., where he attends school at Brown. We will miss him. As for Merkel, we hope to see her again. She seemed to have fun, negotiated well, listened to everyone's advice, but consistently turned in her own moves...which could be described, fairly, as effectively wild.

In all, 30 players participated in the 12 Brawl games this year. The field for the 2018 Bar Room Brawl Championship will be announced at the Pyle. The game will be scheduled later.

As for the 2019 Bar Room Brawl Series, it opens on September 12 at the Red Lion. Hope to see you there.

Using webDiplomacy.net as our platform and armed with laptops, tablets and cell phones, seven of us gathered at Ali Adib's tastefully decorated apartment in Avondale today for his third boardless game experiment. Despite making the effort to play an online game in the same room, Game No. 371 was a quiet affair as we spent much of our negotiating time staring at our screens.

Paradoxically, the high-tech game was something of a throwback. It ended during the Spring 1907 turn in an old-school four-way draw. The final center counts were:

The supply center chart is here. Of course, why settle for the chart when you can check out the game history on webDip. Just keep in mind that we had to quick-play 1902 to resolve a couple of unfortunate NMRs.

As newcomer and transplanted Brit Matilda Bathurst gained some traction Wednesday night at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square, observer Chris Kelly turned to me and said, "If she waltzes to this board-top, the title writes itself."

Chris and I fancy ourselves to be geniuses when it comes to titling these game summaries, and normally, we can appreciate each other's references. This one had me stumped, though. I'm not well versed in Australian folk music, and "Walk on the Wild Side" is as deep into the Lou Reed weeds as I can go.

As both her neighbor on the board and a history major who specialized in Medieval civilization, I was thinking instead of the central figure in an English civil war. While victorious, that Matilda was never crowned, though, so Chris gets the nod.

Game No. 369, played June 13 at the Red Lion, ended by draw vote in Spring 1905 in the following center counts:

Matilda was recruited by Ali. Ravi and Nick, meanwhile, found us through Meetup. Matilda and Nick were playing for the first time. Ravi was playing his first face-to-face game. Throw in Chad, who was returning to the table for the first time since May of last year, and it was an exceptionally good recruiting night for the club.

The supply center chart is here. Find the current league standings here. And the updated Bar Room Brawl standings are here.

With his second board-top in as many outings, Kevin O'Kelly proved yet again that you only need one "e" to spell evil. Big Kevin played masterfully, pitting his neighbors against one another, always offering just enough help to keep them blowing into his sails without ever sending a favorable wind their way. By 1906, he had navigated his way to a dominant position in the middle of the board. Tired of fighting the choppy sea, the other players yielded in Spring 1907.

Game No. 368, played yesterday at Jim O'Kelley's home in Little Italy, ended by draw vote in the following center counts:

Game No. 367, played last night at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square, started late thanks to Bandon Fogel's extended teaching session with an interested beginner. The real lesson soon followed as the two-time defending Weasel of the Year and reigning Bull Weasel gave the other players a master course in taking what the board offers. The lesson ended by time limit after the Fall 1906 turn in the following center counts:

The supply center chart and opening moves are here. The updated Bar Room Brawl standings are here. And the current league standings are here.

Fogel snatched the board-top from Brian Shelden by overcoming a two-dot deficit in the final year. The top was Fogel's third of the season and vaulted him back into his familiar spot atop the league standings.

He's also in first in the Bar Room Brawl. His pupil, meanwhile, opted to shadow him rather than play herself. Although she had to leave after 1904 or so, she seemed to enjoy watching a master at his craft and expressed an eagerness to play herself...which she then backed up by signing up for next month's Red Wednesday.

As for his other students, they collectively failed this exam. Fortunately, they shouldn't have to wait long for a do-over.

The club squeezed in a final tune-up before this weekend's CODCon Open last night at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square. Christian "The Scorpion" Kline's zero-sum brand of Diplomacy was in mid-season form, and thanks to a solid position atop the map and a defeatist neighbor with long-term memory issues, he topped the board with a big final year.

Game No. 366 ended by time limit after the Fall 1906 turn in the following center counts:

The supply center chart is here. You'll find the current League standings here, and the current Brawl standings here.

Christian vaulted into third place on the strength of the board-top and now has 2.33 in five games on the season. Jake, meanwhile, edged past Brandon for first, though both players improved their leftover scores: Brandon with a solid result, and Jake by virtue of matching the his leftover game count to the minimum divisor of two.

Those same three players top the Brawl standings, with Christian in second there over Brandon.

Okay, players, how did it go down? (I can't remember.) And who can't wait for CODCon?

Ali Adib hosted another boardless game at his place in Avondale last Saturday (April 7). Game No. 365 went five game-years, with old vet Matt Sundstrom, the club's most decorated player, proving that he's got the right stuff in any reality.

The supply center chart is here. The current league standings are here. Note that the new scoring calculation with the leftover averages is starting to come into play. It's currently affecting Ali and Matt's battle for seventh place.